1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to wireless devices and, more particularly, to pairing wireless devices for authorized data exchange.
2. Description of the Related Art
Traditionally, headphones or earphones are connected to an audio output device, such as a mobile phone or media player, through a wired connection. The wired connection can, however, in many cases be cumbersome or annoying to the user. Hence, in recent times, wireless headsets or earphones have been developed. Typically, these wireless devices utilize Bluetooth technology or other short range wireless technology in order to wirelessly transmit data between the headset or earphone and the mobile phone. As a result, there is no need for a wired connection between the headset or earphones and the mobile phone or media player.
Unfortunately, however, before the wireless headset or earphone can operate in a wireless manner with a mobile audio device (e.g., mobile phone, portable media player, etc.), the wireless headset or earphone must be paired with the mobile audio device. Pairing is a process that is used to associate a headset or earphone with a particular audio device, and vice versa. The pairing provides for secure data transfer between the devices, typically through use of encryption. Thus, the pairing helps ensure that the data being transferred is not only secured but also transferred to the appropriate recipient device. Pairing, however, requires that a pin code be entered in order to pair a mobile audio device with a headset or earphone. Entering of a pin code is sometimes problematic for a user. For example, often mobile audio devices are small handheld devices and the entering of a pin code can be cumbersome given the small scale of mobile audio devices. The mobile audio devices may also not offer a user interface that supports ease of entry of a pin code. Still further, users often do not know the appropriate pin code to be utilized.
Moreover, similar difficulties exist for other types of wireless devices besides headsets and earphones. For example, other wireless devices that also need to undergo pairing include remote controllers, computing devices, peripheral devices, etc.
Thus, there is a need for improved techniques to facilitate pairing of wireless devices.